Desperate for News
by Rotfang-Conspiracist
Summary: For the 'You taught me Challenge' by nerdyclever. I got Dean Thomas - to know what pain is. In a way, it was Lee Jordan who taught Dean what pain really is...


**A/N :- For nerdyclever's 'You taught me' challenge. Disclaimer:- Quotation at the beginning, as well as Dean, Lee and Ted are from Deathly Hallows, which I wrote (not). But Dean's family are mine :) (first time writing OCs, let me know what you think). **

**I imagined that the message that Lee gives out for Dean when Harry, Ron and Hermione are listening to Potterwatch (right before they get caught by the snatchers) is one that he has repeated many times.**

**Edit: RodentFace pointed out to me that Dean couldn't actually have an older sister... so just call that artistic liscence :)**

"_His parents and sisters are desperate for news." _

It was always the same. Every time Ted managed to turn that bloody thing on, there would be another message for him. Another knife in the heart. From Dad and Mum and Jessie and Suzy and Isla.

Dad, who would be stoic and tall, arm around Mum to support her. He used to take Dean to sit for hours by the lake, fishing, all peaceful and picturesque. Before Dean learnt to summon the fish with a simple Accio. He taught Dean to paint the lake. And everything else he ever painted. They used to go and watch Westham play footie on a Saturday. Before Dean started going to Quidditch. (Dad didn't like going to football matches on his own.)

Mum, who would lean on Dad and Jessie as her eyes filled with tears, because her boy, her precious boy was missing. Mum, who had cried when Dean got the letter, and not just because of happiness. He had had to hold her then, to promise to write, everyday. But later, when he was busy with the DA and his girlfriend and Quidditch, only once a month. But Mum was also the one who had first taught him about fighting for what was right, with that big smile on her face and a mouth full of confidence. (But she wasn't smiling now.)

Jessie, whose eyes would glint with fire as she watched her family fall apart. Jessie, who was always the big sister, bickering, but there to protect her little bro. Who hadn't spoken to him all summer when she'd found out he was going away, but broken down just before he left, hugging him next to the barrier into a new world. It was Jessie who taught him to compliment girls, and to listen to them when they are hurt. (But this time he hurt her)

Suzy, who would hide herself in a different world rather than face things. Suzy, who was the quiet, smart one. They used to sit, Dean painting happily, and her with her nose in a book, and just while away the rainy afternoons. And she absorbed everything she read. He'd been sitting at the kitchen table once, working on a ridiculously hard essay for Snape. She came up behind him and started correcting his mistakes. He was angry when he found out she'd borrowed one of his books, just to see what it was like. But when he got the marks for that essay, he sent her some Honeydukes' chocolate. She loved sweets. (They comfort her)

Isla, Dean's greatest regret. The baby all wrapped up in white, who Dean had promised to protect, leaning over the cot with a tiny hand clutching his finger. But then he got the letter, and left her. Missed her growing up. She only knew him as the owl that flew in through the window every now and then, the photographs on the mantelpiece, the boy who only appeared in the holidays. She sometimes tacked scrubby drawings onto the end of Suzy's letters. He had one in the pocket of his ragged shirt. The crinkled paper remind him everyday why he had to survive. He had to come home, or his baby sister would never know him. (Or he her)

He wished he could have left a note, telling them not to worry about him, that he could look after himself. He hadn't ever properly explained to them what was happening in his world, just assumed that it couldn't touch them. But it had, because they were in contact with Lee, desperately breaking down the barriers across the worlds, hunting for him. (And he was running away)

He hadn't meant this to happen. He wasn't like Harry, who always flaunted danger. He wasn't Ron or Hermione, sticking up for their best friend. He wasn't a member of the Order of the Phoenix, who had made their choice. He was just a muggle-born on the run. (Not even fighting)

He hadn't ever had a chance to show them the magic, had had to run once he was 17. He remembered coming home for the first holiday, fresh-faced and thrilled, and they'd asked him to show them something. They'd been quick to smother the disappointment as he handed them the note. (Turn that frown, upside down)

Lee Jordan taught Dean what pain was. Pain was crackled messages of longing loved ones, and not being able to respond. Pain was hearing that they were desperate, so desperate for news, and not being able to give it. Pain was knowing you were hurting them, and not knowing how to fix it. Pain was wondering what would happen if he died, alone and afraid, and they didn't know why. He remembers seeing the haunted faces of parent's whose children are still missing. There's no closure without a corpse.

(He misses them)


End file.
